This website represents one man's look at a fairly random selection of alleged Biblical contradictions, errors, and other problems. Problems are classified as Weak, Minor, or Serious, according to how severe they are for the doctrine of inerrancy: that is, the view that the Bible contains no errors. Of course, these ratings are pretty subjective. You might want to read my thoughts on how Christians should respond to these problems. I don't argue that Biblical errors are fatal for Christianity, merely a certain fundamentalist brand of it (but full disclosure: I am not currently a Christian).
Last updated September 2016: Uncertain now about the "born again" play on words.
| Internal contradictions: | Non-problems | Gospels | Old Testament | NT versus OT | Acts – Revelation |
|---|---|
| Other problems: | Science and history | Prophecies | Immorality | Oddities |
Things barely worth worrying about, yet which occur widely...
| (Weak) | Various scribal errors |
|---|---|
| (Weak) | Jesus' wording |
| (Weak) | On rounding |
Since there are four books dealing with the same events, the gospels are probably the best place to look for contradictions...
I haven't searched for Old Testament contradictions with as much vigour...
This deals with either contradictions between, or misquotations of, the Old Testament by the New...
| (Serious) | Jesus names Abiathar as high priest when he wasn't |
|---|---|
| (Serious) | Matthew says Jeremiah when he means Zechariah |
| (Serious) | Matthew's account of the "triumphal entry" |
| (Serious) | Daniel only says "many" shall awaken |
| (Minor) | God tempts or doesn't tempt David |
| (Minor) | Jesus mixes up his Zechariahs |
| (Minor) | Paul on plague victims in Numbers |
| (Minor) | Jesus forgets Elijah ascended into heaven |
| (Minor) | The Isaiah 7:14 thing |
| (Weak) | David is or isn't alone getting bread |
| (Weak) | The age of Abram / Abraham when he left Haran |
| (Weak) | Jesus versus Leviticus on adultery |
| (Weak) | God tempts or doesn't tempt Abraham |
| (Unsure) | Luke inserts Cainan into his genealogy |
Alleged contradictions involving "those other books" of the New Testament...
| (Serious) | Accounts of Judas' death conflict - 3 or 4 different problems together |
|---|---|
| (Serious) | Paul started preaching immediately, or not |
| (Weak) | Paul's advice conflicts on divorcing unbelievers |
| (Weak) | Accounts of Paul's conversion |
| (Weak) | Locusts are told not to harm grass already destroyed |
| (Weak) | God's will isn't done in heaven |
| (Weak) | The Gospel of Luke doesn't include all that Jesus did |
| (Unsure) | A right strawy epistle |
See also alleged failed prophecies...
| (Serious) | A most unlikely census requirement |
|---|---|
| (Serious) | Jesus was born before 4 BC or after 6 AD |
| (Minor) | Jesus on mustard seeds |
| (Minor) | The animals couldn't fit on Noah's ark - a special case |
| (Minor) | Jacob and his striped goat breeding program |
| (Minor) | The geocentric Bible |
| (Minor) | Some insects have four feet |
| (Weak) | Darius wrote to the whole world |
| (Weak) | The Philistines' super-duper chariot force |
| (Weak) | Pi = 3 |
| (Weak) | Light before the sun |
| (Weak) | Proverbs on leaderless ants |
| (Weak) | Jonah in the whale which was a fish |
| (Weak) | Bats are birds |
| (Unsure) | Hares or rabbits chew the cud |
The following depend on your opinion of the conclusions of secular science.
| (Serious) | Stars have existed for only 6,000 years? - difficult only for young-Earthers; Weak for old-Earthers |
|---|---|
| (Serious) | Plants before the sun - by contrast, this is difficult only for old-Earthers; Minor for young-Earthers |
| (Serious) | Wrong order of celestial creation - Weak for young-Earthers |
| (Serious) | Genesis contradicts evolution - Weak for all Creationists (though see dating issues) |
| (Serious) | The Bible contradicts archaeology - dating the Exodus, Flood, and Creation itself |
I haven't looked too closely at this issue yet...
| (Serious) | Tyre survived |
|---|---|
| (Serious) | The New Testament on the eschaton |
| (Minor) | Nebuchadnezzar didn't take Egypt |
| (Minor) | Solomon's kingdom didn't last forever |
| (Weak) | Damascus survived |
| (Unsure) | Daniel and the eschaton |
This isn't a category I'm very comfortable dealing with, since the arguments often involve deep theology. Hence I've written relatively little about immorality apparently condoned by God...
Not exactly contradictions, but things which seem to make little sense...
| (Serious) | Matthew's genealogy is too short |
|---|---|
| (Serious) | Prayer is said to be more effective than it is |
| (Minor) | Samson is really stupid |
| (Minor) | A snake talked to Eve |
| (Minor) | The polytheistic Bible |
| (Minor) | John the Baptist still had disciples |
| (Minor) | Luke's parable of the pounds (or minas) is incoherent |
| (Minor) | Jesus tries to keep a secret in front of great crowds |
| (Minor) | God is not fully aware of events in Sodom and Gomorrah |
| (Minor) | Quail! Quail? |
| (Weak) | Frogs! Frogs? |
| (Weak) | Jesus led the Jews out of Egypt |
| (Weak) | "I am not going up to this feast" - contains a few words about textual criticism |
| (Weak) | Cain's wife comes out of nowhere |
| (Weak) | Believers can handle snakes and drink poison |
| (Weak) | "Lead us not into temptation" |
| (Weak) | God couldn't defeat chariots |
| (Weak) | Lying Cretans and the Epimenides paradox |
| (Unsure) | God needs to rest |
| (Unsure) | "Born again" involves an impossible play on words |
| (Unsure) | Paul didn't write all the Pauline epistles |
Various Christian and atheist (and indeed, Muslim) sources discuss hundreds of different Biblical problems. But I'm likely to focus on ones that I find interesting. If you like, email me at the following address with any suggestions for issues to look at, or any strong arguments I've missed.
There are many pages listing Biblical problems. However, although it should be obvious that some problems are more serious than others, most sites opposed to "inerrancy" tend to throw them all at you at once, as if to impress you with their sheer number. I take a different approach, and try to classify problems according to how bad they are.
Ultimately, like those other sites, this website argues against "inerrancy". There are definitely errors in the Bible. Whether this alone renders the whole text worthless or not is up to you. I don't see any automatic reason why it should.
If you like, you can read more about my motivation for writing this site.
I have made much use of the following websites, especially the Skeptic's Annotated Bible, which was the source for a great many of the problems:
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I should also thank the makers of the English Standard Version, my main Biblical source. It's not the Bible I would recommend personally, but I use it here because it's one that's broadly acceptable to most conservative Christians. The Bible I would actually recommend is the New Revised Standard Version, which is similar in style but makes no effort to harmonise contradictory passages. (It also goes gender neutral: an issue I care nothing about.) I've also started using the NIV Study Bible, the notes of which often give the most plausible inerrantist explanations, though the NIV itself is not to be trusted. |
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